


Say When

by ChaosPrincessKit



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF!Stiles, Gen, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Pack Feels, Reckless!Stiles, Slow Build, depressed!Stiles, more to come - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-10
Updated: 2013-10-10
Packaged: 2017-12-29 01:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/999274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaosPrincessKit/pseuds/ChaosPrincessKit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles is trying to deal with this new found darkness around his heart after saving his father from the Darach. Allison and Scott seem to be fine, but Stiles just isn't coping very well. When the Nemeton turns Beacon Hills into a veritable Hellmouth, Derek and Jackson show back up and things really start to get crazy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Say When

**Author's Note:**

> I will try to stay as canon as possible, spoilers all through 3A and probably AU after. I'm bringing Jackson back because I love Jackson. Derek will not appear for at least a couple chapters, sorry :(. I don't own Teen Wolf or anyone affiliated with it, I just want to see Sterek bloom.

The pounding of his feet on the pavement was the only sound that filled the ears of Stiles Stilinski. Yes, his name was Stiles. No, he would not tell you his real name. No power in this Earth could make him tell you his real name. His calves burned, his lungs had long since buckled in on themselves and still he pushed himself forward, ignoring the wheezing pants coming from his dry and raw throat. He couldn't hear anything behind him, which he took as a good sign. Then again, it was the middle of the day and he was running down the side of the road, shirtless and determined so he much doubted anything would be following him anyway.

He wasn't running from anything necessarily. Nothing physical anyway. It just...helped. It seemed like ages ago when Deaton had explained about the ever present darkness that would take up residence in his heart. He was fully capable of admitting that he hadn't really thought about it at the time. All of his thoughts had been focused on his father and saving his life, not about some silly consequences that would happen _later_. He really should have considered it, in hindsight.

After the battle with the Alpha wolves and the Darach (he refused to call her by any other name; that stupid, shady bitch), everything had fallen into a rather eerily silent state in Beacon Hills. It was unnerving to say the least, considering that Deaton's final warning had been that their actions would reawaken the Nemeton, causing it to become a veritable Hellmouth-esque mystical convergence. They were in way over their heads with this one, he knew.

His dad had taken the news of Werewolves and the supernatural better than he'd expected, though he'd been spending an awful lot of time with Scott's mom and Allison's dad. Stockholm Syndrome he was sure, cause they'd all spent so much time kidnapped together. At least that's what he was telling himself and not the obvious fact that his father was learning how to be a Hunter from Chris Argent and discussing the more emotional side of the supernatural with Melissa McCall.

Stiles had to admit though, with Scott coming into his own as a True Alpha and Derek packing up his sister and leaving (without taking Peter with him, that inconsiderate asshole), he felt more lost than normal. Aidan and Ethan, the wonder twins, had decided to stick around as well (much to do with the fact that Ethan was head over heels for Danny, who still had NO idea about anything supernatural). He was almost positive that they'd be an asset rather than a hindrance, should anything shitty go down. Plus, it would be so much better then getting his skull caved in by the combined forces of Were-Hulk. He wasn't sure where he stood with either of them, but then, they should probably be more worried about where _they_ stood with the pack.

When he paused in his run, he thought he might pass out before he ever caught his breath. Dark spots danced in front of his eyes and his lungs spasmed painfully. He sucked in a ragged breath and placed his hands on his knees, using his new hunched over position to bully some air back into his body. He hadn't be running away from anything specifically. Nothing except for himself really. That never ever worked out well, considering, you know, he was a part of himself and couldn't run from that. It was just...difficult. Scott mentioned the darkness once or twice but he was genuinely _happy_ with his new status as Alpha and how well the pack flowed together now that the danger was gone (and so were Derek and Cora). Allison hadn't seemed to take it all that hard either. In fact, from the looks of it, she was more free than ever before, because she knew her place and knew what she was capable of. That, and she was starting _something_ with Isaac, which was a total kick in the nutsac for Scott, he was sure.

Then there was him. He literally felt like he was drowning again most of the time. Sometimes he felt like he was being edged out of the group because he wasn't a wolf and he wasn't a hunter and was actually more of a liability than an asset. Other times...well...It was like he was standing on the sidelines, watching everyone go about their carefree days and all he could hear was this dull, rushing noise instead of actual conversation. Like his head was still under water. He'd thought about mentioning it to Scott a couple of time but he always seemed to get this wounded, concerned look on his face that told Stiles that whatever he was about to say would shatter the delusion of normalcy and bring everyone down. Stiles wasn't selfish enough to do that and so he generally just kept those kind of things to himself, forcing that smile and bitterly sarcastic commentary to the forefront and so hopefully no one would notice.

He pulled a face at himself and wheezed pathetically, holding his side and waiting out the stitch that made it nearly impossible to breathe. Sometimes life just sucked. Running helped, he found. It was like meditating, but easier. Running made it easier to focus on nothing but breathing and the burn in his muscles. Made it easier to empty his mind. It also made it easier to pass out at night due to exhaustion. It kept all of his dark thoughts at bay, but not for long and it wasn't like he could spend the rest of his life running from his own inner demons.

Stiles was still panting on the side of the road when he heard the car pull up next to him and stop. Wearily, he lifted his eyes slowly to see who it was. Surprisingly, it was no one on the list of people he thought might have been following him. It was Danny. He stood straight up, wincing as the stitch in his side pulled tight. Danny pushed a button until the passenger window was fully down, looking at Stiles curiously with just a hint of concern.

“Hey, Danny,” Stiles greeted amicably. _Please leave, please leave, please leave,_ he chanted in his head, hoping the sentiment didn't shine through his eyes.

“Stiles,” Danny returned, looking him over. Stiles was shirtless and dripping with sweat, wearing only a pair of loose mid-thigh running shorts and his sneakers. There was a dish towel tucked into his waistband, which he quickly grabbed and mopped his face and neck with.

“What's up?” he hedged carefully, looking around to his location. He was somewhere near the edge of town, where he usually found himself before he turned and ran back home.

“Nothing much, I was actually headed to Haggerty for the festival,” he gave a small smile, “How come you're out this far?” he looked around curiously, “Did you run all the way here from your house?”

“The festival?” he questioned, mostly to himself, eyebrows drawn together as he tried to remember any mentions of a festival. Then it hit him like a ton of brick. Haggerty Mills was hosting a Pride Festival today for their town and all surrounding towns to join. Of course Danny was going, that made total sense. “Oh right, the festival,” he amended, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. _Please stop staring at me like that, I'm not crazy, not yet anyway. Oh who am I kidding, I'm probably completely crazy by now. What was the other question? Oh right..._ “Yeah, I ran here from my house. It's not that far,” he added, cause really, it was no big deal.

Danny furrowed his brow, “Your house is on the opposite side of town,” he pointed out.

“It's a small town,” Stiles shrugged. Danny gave him a disbelieving look because, dude, he lived in the town too, he knew how big it was. It wasn't metropolitan big, but it was big enough to require the use of a car back and forth. Stiles, of course, knew that too. “I mean...It wasn't a very far run...um...I mean...I like running.”

Danny just blinked at him carefully. “Are you ok, Stiles?” he finally asked after a very long couple of seconds.

 _No, I'm pretty sure I'm being swallowed alive by an imaginary darkness that only exists inside me, my best friend and his no-so-girlfriend who is probably dating his new wolfy best friend._ “I'm good,” he replied with a smile, feeling his jaw pop with how forced it was.

Danny hesitated, looking as though he were about to say goodbye and continue on his way, but couldn't. “Do...I mean...this is weird, but do you want to come with me?”

“What?” Stiles replied, completely stunned and left floundering for a moment. Him and Danny weren't exactly what he would call 'friends'. Actually, Stiles was half convinced that he annoyed Danny to the point of no return. That was when something occurred to him that really hadn't before. “Where's Ethan?”

Danny smiled softly, which meant everything was obviously ok on that front. “He's gonna swing through in a bit, him and his brother had something planned today. He didn't even know about that festival until I mentioned I was going.”

It was nice that Danny wasn't mad about that, but honestly, Danny was the type of guy that rarely go mad about anything, ever. He totally trusted that Ethan had a good reason for not driving down with him and he wasn't the clingy type that would whine about it. He was just happy enough with himself that he'd go on his own and be happy whenever Ethan showed up. Stiles was jealous. He wondered what it felt like to live that kind of life.

“Oh, that's cool. I don't want to impose though. I mean...I'm not exactly...well...I mean...am I attractive to gay guys?” he asked curiously.

Danny chuckled in response and rolled his eyes. “Get in,” he said as he unlocked the doors, “there's only one way to find out the answer to that question.”

“I pretty sure the answer to that question isn't me throwing myself into the middle of a group of gay guys,” Stiles mumbled to himself, flushing red, but climbing into the passenger seat none the less. _What the hell am I doing? Why am I even in Danny's car right now? Why the hell would he even invite me along?_

“-go with me all the time, but he's not really here anymore so...” Danny was shrugging but Stiles had only caught half of the sentence. He got the gist of it though.

“Jackson?” the idea was actually pretty funny, not that he'd laugh about it now. Jackson just up and leaving had hurt a lot of people, none of them were Stiles. One of them, however, was Danny. “Make sense, being your best friend and all.” _Not 'was', best friends don't just stop. Scott. Yeah, Scott, I'm talking to you even though you can't hear me or have any idea._

“Yeah,” Danny nodded and took off with a smile.

“You know, I'm not really dressed for the occasion...or...actually dressed at all,” Stiles said a couple minutes into the drive. He looked down at his bare chest and flimsy shorts.

He could have seen Danny suppressing his smirk even if he had been a mile away. “You're dressed enough, believe me.”

When they arrived in Haggerty Mills, it was incredibly obvious what Danny had meant and why he'd found Stiles' statement so amusing. He didn't think he'd ever seen so much exposed flesh in one place and had it all been legal. Men were in thongs or very tight leather shorts or pants. There was one in a pair of assless chaps. Women were walking around topless, nipples covered with electric tape. There were Drag Queens as far as the eye could see and an endless sea of rainbows. It was overwhelming at first glance, so he decided to just take it in a little bit at a time.

Well...he'd planned on that until some of the Drag Queens that he recognized from Jungle spotted him and began crowding and cooing. Danny gave him an odd, appraising look and tilted his head questioningly. Stiles shrugged helplessly as his head was petted and his shoulders stroked. “We haven't seen you in a while, hunny,” one of them purred in his ear. He smiled brilliantly. _Ha, Scott might get all the guys' attention but the Drag Queens LOVE me!_

“Dude...” Danny chuckled.

“What can I say?” Stiles shrugged, leaning his head back as someone started to run their fingers through his hair. It felt great. _Oh my god if you could do that forever, that would be great. This is so much better than running, I owe Danny big time._

A couple of guys made their way over to Danny and eyed Stiles critically. He felt kind of offended at first until one of them turned to Danny and said “this the new guy?”

He choked and ended up yanking his head away from the person stroking it. “What? No...no. That's Ethan, I'm not Ethan. Please don't tell Ethan you thought we were together.” _Jesus Christ, Ethan will kill me if he thinks I'm trying to take Danny. Not that I could take Danny...not that I_ _ **want**_ _to take Danny. Not that Danny isn't attractive, but I don't want to die._

Danny was full out belly laughing now, clutching his stomach with his arm and leaning on one of the guys for support. “Relax, Stiles, Ethan doesn't think we're together. He knows I brought you here, I texted him earlier.”

“What? No! Why?” _Oh my God, Danny, do you want me to die? Is this what this is about? Inviting me here to my DEATH? Oh my god..._ Stiles could feel the panic beginning to encompass him. It didn't matter that Danny didn't know that Ethan was a werewolf. **He** knew that Ethan was a werewolf and that terrified him, especially since not so long ago, Ethan was trying to cave his head in. On purpose. Because he was **evil**. Ok, maybe 'evil' was a bit over the top, but he was an Alpha and his brother was an Alpha and they merged into a single, gigantic alpha-hulk that was nigh unbeatable. He really didn't want a repeat of the previous month.

“Calm down, Stiles,” Danny placed a hand on his shoulder. “He's cool with it.”

“Yeah, I bet,” he muttered to himself darkly, thinking of all the ways that Ethan would probably corner him later and growl and threaten and probably hit.

“Well he's cute at any rate,” the other guy said, looking him over with a smile, “but definitely not your type.”

Danny chuckled, “Stiles, this is Damien and Malachi,” he pointed to both men in turn and both shot him pleasant smiles.

Damien was tall and broad, very linebacker. He had blond hair that was very close cut and he was wearing a very sparkly red and blue tank top with white pants. It seemed kinda surreal to see someone that large wear something that...well...flamboyant. Malachi on the other hand was smaller, more lithe. He had black, shaggy hair that went all the way to the nape of his neck and was simply in a pair of jeans, no shirt. He offered them an easy smile after he was done observing and leaned back again. Immediately a hand went back to stroking his hair.

“So what happened to your boyfriend, sweetums?” Mimi asked from beside him.

Stiles started and stared with wide-eyes, “what boyfriend?” he demanded.

“The one you came to the club with,” he got eyed for a second and then a sympathetic pat, “was it a very bad break up then?”

He spluttered incoherently for a moment before flushing bright red. “That was Scott, he's not my boyfriend, he's my best friend!”

“Aww,” Damien practically swooned, holding a hand to his heart. “Did you hear that, Mal? Now that's true love.”

“What? No, I mean, yeah, but no!” Stiles protested. Danny was practically dying with laughter beside him, clutching his stomach and howling like a little monkey.

“Oh my god, Stiles, if I would have known that hanging out with you was this amusing, I would have started a long time ago,” Danny chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye.

“You're laughing at my expense which you've been doing with Jackson since the 5th grade. I'm pretty sure you don't actually need to hang out with me to do that,” he snapped, feeling a sudden, searing anger go through him. _No, fuck you, you don't get to act like that. You spent years ignoring me when I tried so hard...No. Whatever. Fuck you._

Danny stopped laughing immediately and looked somber. He opened his mouth to speak, but immediately closed it again, frowning. “Well...this got awkward,” Damien said brightly.

The anger left Stiles almost immediately as it appeared, leaving him feeling deflated and ashamed. _What the fuck is even wrong with me? That was shitty, I'm not petty like that. I totally understand. I mean...I'd probably ignore the weird spaz too. Sorry, Issac._ “I'm sorry, Danny, I didn't mean that. I don't know why I said that. I never thought you were a bad guy.”

“No, that's fair, I guess,” Danny shrugged, seemingly unfazed after a moments contemplation _._ Stiles really did envy that laid back attitude of his.

After that, Stiles figured that Danny would leave him there. Going off with his friends and waiting on Ethan and leaving Stiles to his own devices and the Drag Queens. But oddly enough, that didn't happen at all. Damien mentioned a guy with bubbles in the field across the street and then Malachi pointed to the Teen Village tent, mentioning that there was always something interesting going on in there. Not that he was super into painting or anything. Damien snorted at him. Danny was focused on food. He had his eyes set on a particular spot that was selling ham thighs with pineapple and was determined to get there first.

“Come on, we're getting to the front of that line,” Danny said seriously, grabbing Stiles' arm and dragging him along.

“Whoa, w-what?” he stumbled and nearly tripped over his feet as he scrambled to match stride with Danny. _Oh my God, I'm going to lose an arm for a bit of ham,_ he bemoaned to himself, already knowing that he probably already had marks from Danny's enthusiastic grabbing.

“These are literally the best things you will ever eat,” Danny promised.

“That looks like a heart attack twenty years in my future,” he muttered suspiciously, eying the food that Danny was leading him towards.

It turned out to be surprisingly good anyway. The pineapple had a smokey flavor to it, making the tartness seem kind of sweet. The ham was perfectly roasted and juicy. He contemplated going back for a second one, but then thought better of it. There were plenty other food places to stop at and he wanted to try them all, so he needed the room. Danny was definitely not ready for a feeding frenzy and so Stiles had to abandon him for the deep fried chocolate bananas. No, the joke wasn't lost on him, but it was delicious nonetheless. When Stiles rejoined him, sporting his newly acquired banana, Danny led him over to a support tent.

There was a group of counselors, each speaking with it own intimate group of people; answering questions, lending support, offering advice or information. It was an amazing thing to witness. Stiles hung back nervously as Danny made his way to an open group and sat down with them, smiling and introducing himself. Stiles felt his attention being drawn by little things: a hand in the air, a sudden alertness, laughter. He found his eyes darting between all of the people in every group, watching facial expressions and body language to determine what was going on. It kept his mind focused, it kept his attention from wandering and it was one of the things he'd learned to do before Adderall and even when Adderall wasn't enough. He'd completely forgotten that it was such a creepy fucking habit to just stare at people.

“You know, it rude to people watch where they can so plainly see you,” someone remarked glibly from beside him. He let out an undignified squeak and looked over. There stood an incredibly short and petite girl with bright purple hair. She was wearing a fairy miniskirt that barely covered her ass and a bustless corset. Stiles gaped at her. “Also apparently straight. Or Bi, but whatever, everyone is welcome here,” she smiled.

“I'm here with a friend,” he mumbled quickly, feeling his neck heat up red.

She grinned knowingly, “straight friend that got dragged to a festival, I can appreciate that.”

“Well he didn't _drag_ me,” Stiles defended. “He's not pushy. He just asked if I wanted to come and I said 'yes' and got in the car.”

“Wearing basketball shorts and sneakers?” she questioned.

He'd totally forgotten that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Thanks for pointing that out, lady. He crossed his arms self consciously over his chest and glared. “I was running.”

“Ok so your friend asked you to come here and you were running, yeah. That sounds totally like you weren't dragged here,” she chuckled.

“You're twisting everything,” he accused. “I was out running and Danny was on his way here. He passed by, stop for a chat and asked.”

“So you're his date.”

“No, Danny has a boyfriend,” was his automatic reply, “but I have it on very good authority that I'm attractive to gay men.”

“So you _are_ Bi, then?” she questioned, eying him with amusement.

“Would it matter?” he shrugged absently.

“I guess not,” she gave him an appraising nod. _“_ I like you, My name is Naomi.”

“Stiles,” he grinned back.

“Stiles?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow. “That's actually you're name?”

“Well...I'm thinking of having it legally changed, so yes,” he laughed.

“Ah...and which one is Danny, then?” she asked, looking around at the groups.

“The buff Hawaiian with a square face,” Stiles pointed towards the center group.

“Oh, he's adorable,” she remarked, “yet totally out of your league, sorry I thought you were dating.”

“Hey,” he protested, offended.

She smiled at him, “I'm gonna mingle. See ya,” she waggled her fingers at him and trotted off towards a group.

He watched her go, stunned and somewhat aroused. It was unproductive to ogle women at a pride festival, he reminded himself and rolled his eyes. He'd admire the men instead. It was totally allowed in brocode for one dude to admire another dude. He was still relatively positive that he was straight. He said relatively because sometimes, even he wasn't sure. _There was that one time I asked Scott to make out with me but that was for purely scientific purposes. Meaning, I wanted to know if I'd enjoy it. Totally not attracted to Scott, but I'd trust him with anything, so why not? That definitely points to 'not-straight' though. Ugh. Why does defining your sexuality even have to be a thing?_

It wasn't long before Danny had rejoined him and they left the tent. Only to meet up with Ethan right outside. Stiles pulled up short, suddenly feeling incredibly apprehensive. Danny and him greeted with a hug and a modest kiss. Stiles smiled kinda goofily, but quickly hide it as soon as Ethan turned to face him. “Thanks for keeping him company,” he smiled.

Stiles smiled hesitantly, eyes darting around for a quick exit in case of attack. “No problem,” he nodded tightly.

“Stiles wants to try all the food,” Danny cut in, looking between the two of them oddly.

“Sure, sounds fun,” Ethan replied, slinging an arm around Danny's waist.

This felt incredibly surreal to Stiles and he looked over his shoulder suspiciously as he led them towards the next food cart. The entire time they spent there, however, was amicable. They ate. A lot. They ate probably more than they should have in an entire week. They danced. Stiles ended up with a neon pink mesh shirt from somebody. It didn't clash very well with the basketball shorts, but there was a fashion statement to be made, he supposed. Danny had snapped a picture of it. They'd gotten bands and beads and necklaces. Stiles had somehow also acquired a rainbow cape, which was tied around his neck and flowing quite impressively with the breeze.

At the end of the day, all three of them piled into Danny's car with all of their things and headed back to Beacon Hills, chatting easily. Stiles liked Ethan well enough, he guessed. He liked him a hell of a lot more than he liked his brother, but then, his brother was an aggressive twat-waffle that had moved in on Lydia. Ethan had admitted to always, kind of, **at moments,** admiring Stiles; though, he couldn't go into much detail, considering Danny was unaware of the behind the scenes of Beacon Hills. Stiles thought it was about damn time that _somebody_ admired him even some of the time.

He said his goodbyes when Danny dropped him off in front of his house, waving briefly as he honked and pulled away. A quick look at the driveway told him that his dad was home, but probably not for long, seeing as how his car was still running. He hitched a smile on his face as he walked opened the front door and let himself in.

“Hey Dad, I'm home,” he called out.

“Hey, Stiles,” his dad appeared from the kitchen, a forkful of Chinese stuffed in his mouth. “Take out's in the microwave, I've got to get headed back to the station,” he gave an apologetic grimace and then froze, eyes raking over his son. “What are you wearing?”

“Hmm?” Stiles cocked his head to the side and then looked down. Oh right. Neon pink mesh and a rainbow cape. “Oh...hmm,” He frowned as several reasonable explanations went through his head. He settled on the easiest. “I went to the Haggarty Pride Festival with Danny.”

His father's eyebrows arched so far, they seemed to disappear in his forehead wrinkles. “See I'd believe it now, with you dressed like that,” he finally joked.

“Oh haha,” Stiles mocked. “I'll have you know that I'm very attractive to gay guys. I have that on good authority,” he added.

“I guess that's all that matters,” his dad responded casually, grabbing his coat from the hook. “See you later, kid, in bed by 11?”

“HA!” Stiles barked a laugh, “even if I said yes, would you really believe it? I mean really?”

“It makes me feel better knowing I've tried,” his dad sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes, “night, son, see you tomorrow.”

“Night, dad!” he responded with a wave, bounding into the kitchen to grab his takeout. He should have been more vocal about his protests on takeout; it totally wasn't good for his dad, but honestly, he loved takeout. Every once in awhile wouldn't hurt too much. He quickly wolfed down the mountain of food before heading to his room and collapsing on the bed, exhausted. All that running and then the excitement of the festival had completely worn him out. He might finally get a good nights sleep this time.

 

 

 


End file.
